e harbour approach with mines according
to a certain plan, and then retire, with the assurance that, if
attacked, there would be a force of ample strength lying in wait to
protect me.

One part of my duty--after laying the mines--was to endeavour to entice
the Russian fleet to come out in pursuit of me. Experience had taught
us that, for some reason with which we were unacquainted, the Russian
ships invariably followed a certain course when leaving the harbour,
while, when returning, they as invariably followed another; my
instructions, therefore, were to sow my mines over the area by which the
ships returned to port, while leaving free that area traversed by them
when coming out; the reason of course being, that as many ships as
possible should be enticed to come out, in the hope that many of them
would be destroyed upon their return.

The night of the 12th was a wretched one in some respects for our
purpose. The weather was thick; a strong breeze was blowing from the
southward, kicking up a nasty sea; it was bitterly cold; and a thin
drizzle of fine snow made the thick atmosphere still thicker; so that it
was impossible to see farther than a ship's length in any direction. I
foresaw, therefore, that I had a very difficult task before me, not only
in getting the little torpedo-boats across in the heavy sea, but in
depositing the mines in the right place after we should arrive.

To spare the torpedo-boats as much as possible while making the passage
against a heavy head sea, I decided to proceed at a speed of ten knots;
and we accordingly got under way at five o'clock in the evening, leaving
ourselves an hour in hand to cover any delay which we might meet with.
I had very carefully studied the tides and the current charts during the
afternoon, taken careful note of the strength of the wind, and, taking
these matters into consideration, had worked out a course that, unless
some of the conditions changed, should take me to the exact spot I
wished to reach, at eleven o'clock.

Punctual to the moment we started, "in line ahead," each vessel towing a
fog buoy behind her to serve as a guide to the next astern, and these
buoys I had at the last moment caused to be coated with luminous paint,
to make them visible in the intense darkness.

All went well with us; the destroyers rode the seas like gulls, while,
at the moderate speed of ten knots, the torpedo-boats were not only able
to keep station perfectly but also avoid